Author's Note: Surprisingly, I like all the main characters in FF13. xD That's a first. Usually I hate one or two (*cough*Vaan and Penelo*cough*), but not this time! Haha. I've also noticed that Fang is, like, a female version of Balthier. o.O That made me laugh. A lot.
My whole-hearted thanks goes again to Joshua Chung! You can review this story all you want. xD I won't get annoyed - I love reviews! (Hint hint!)
S o S t a r s t r u c k
Chapter Five
Eidolons and Their Masters
I decided to stay with Snow for only one reason: if he claimed to be the hero of this story, no doubt I needed to stay by his side. We heroes must always stay together, right?
"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to catch up on my rest," Balthier stated as he and Snow walked back to Serah's crystal. The others were long gone, and even if Balthier wanted to leave, it would take a while to catch up to them. He leaned up against one of the other crystals, shivering once he felt the cold against his back, while Snow picked up what he used earlier to unearth his fiancée's crystal.
"Is that why you stayed?" he asked with a half laugh.
"Partially. I had a feeling that if I stayed behind with the rest of them, I wouldn't get any time to sleep."
Snow shook his head. "Lightning stops for no one, not even herself. At least...that's what Serah told me."
Balthier glanced toward Serah's crystal, then back to the blond. "How did she...end up becoming a l'Cie?" he asked, not caring if he was prying into personal matters. He had to admit; he was curious.
"Serah?" He frowned, "She...never actually told me. I didn't ask, either. I was afraid that if I mentioned it, she'd get upset." He then began to hit the ice below the crystal again, repeatedly attempting to break it free. After a few moments, he stopped and sighed, turning around and looking at Balthier. "You go on and sleep. If anything happens, or if the Sanctum finds us, I'll wake you up."
"Fine by me." The sky pirate leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Just don't get carried away, Ice. Tiring yourself out won't do either of us any good."
He heard Snow complain about calling him 'Ice' one last time, but then he let himself fall into his own dreams, relaxing at last.
"Sweep team to base. L'Cie spotted. I repeat: l'Cie spotted."
Balthier tiredly opened his eyes when he heard the loud voice around him. "I'm no l'Cie," he murmured, out of habit. He could hear Snow still breaking through the crystal to free Serah, but as soon as he stood up he heard the loud voice again. An announcer of some sort.
"Pulse l'Cie. Confirmed."
And then he spotted the air ship flying above them, shining its lights down in order to find them. Balthier scowled when he ran to Snow, wondering if the other man had even noticed what was going on. The Sanctum had found them, despite their efforts to evade their grasp. They needed to leave, with or with out Serah's crystal. Just as the sky pirate reached out to touch the blond's shoulder, Snow stood up straight and angrily looked up toward the air ship.
"You gonna help me, or what?" he yelled, tightly holding onto the disfigured pipes in his hand. He nearly swung them at Balthier, forcing the pirate duck down to avoid getting knocked unconscious again.
"Watch where you're swinging that thing, Ice!"
Sanctum soldiers jumped down from the airship, using teleport stone-like tools to aid them in their landing. The rushed toward them, their guns aimed at the pair, and surrounded them. Balthier hung his head low, sighing heavily. He watched as more soldiers arrived, standing alongside the cliffs of crystal with their weapons at the ready. Things were not going as planned...
"Commencing clean-up protocol."
Snow smirked. "Clean-up?" he murmured sternly, "Let me help." Lifting the pipes above his head and nearly hitting Balthier again, he threw them forcefully at one of the soldiers, knocking them to the ground. He then flung himself off the crystal's edge at another soldier, tackling them to the ground. Rolling his eyes, Balthier jumped down after him just as more soldiers arrived to fight them.
While Snow handled most of the soldiers, the sky pirate closed his eyes and began to cast a bravery magick spell, knowing that he wouldn't fight their enemies bare handed willingly. As soon as he could feel the spell's effects take hold of him, he ducked down before one of the men could swing their blade at him, and he knocked them off of their feet by kicking the back of their legs. Balthier turned to the rest of the soldiers with a wide grin, adrenaline pulsing through his veins.
He grabbed a hold of one of their guns, hitting the man's neck with it as he turned around. But just as Balthier turned around, one of the soldiers swung a rope around his neck and pulled him back. Nearly choking, he fell against the soldier and clawed his hands at the rope in an attempt to break free. He shut his eyes, biting his lip until it almost bled. This was not good, he told himself, feeling light-headed. He wasn't meant to go down in a short battle like that! Just as he felt his knees go weak, the soldier behind him was knocked to the ground. Snow caught the sky pirate before he could fall as well, nearly laughing as the brunette tried to catch his breath.
"Not used to fighting hand-to-hand combat?" Snow asked, punching one of the soldiers in the face before they could get to Balthier, who knelt on the ground clutching his chest.
"That one just got lucky," he panted, standing up behind the taller man.
The Sanctum's reinforcements surrounded them after they dispatched most of the ones from before, and Balthier uneasily took a step back, eying all the guns aimed at them. And then, as he looked ahead of him, Snow suddenly fell to his knees, groaning. The l'Cie brand on his arm began to glow as soon as he fell, turning light-blue and shimmering brightly.
"Snow...!" Balthier called, taking a step forward to him. What was going on?
The soldiers around them took steps back, nervously turning to one another as, what Balthier guessed it was, a summoning circle appeared in front of Snow. The air suddenly became colder, so much that Balthier could see his warm breath in front of him. From the swirling ice-like magick appeared what looked like two women, turning their backs to the two men behind them and facing the soldiers. Balthier pulled Snow to his feet, staggering backwards as they watched the women summon an unimaginable force of ice-wind, attacking and killing all the soldiers around them. Then, slowly, they turned to face Balthier and Snow with what seemed like seductive smiles.
"Espers?" Balthier stated, once again wishing he wasn't weaponless. He weakly narrowed his eyes from where he stood behind Snow, rubbing his hands together to stay warm in the cold air. The wind was continuously blowing around them, and it was hard for the both of them to stay focused on their surroundings.
"I've heard of these! Eidolons," Snow answered, shielding his eyes with a gloved hand as he stared at the two women. "They appear before a l'Cie when they question their mission, their Focus. This is a test to prove my worth!"
So they weren't espers, as he'd first thought. They were similar, but a hume could control multiple espers; not just one, like l'Cie. Balthier rubbed his head, finding it hard to remember all this new information. He looked up when something up on one of the cliffs caught his eye. A woman with wild hair was watching them, holding a red-colored lance in her hands. Balthier shook his head, turning his attention back to the task at hand.
"Keep your head up, Balthier! This battle's gonna be harder than it looks!"
The Eidolons raised their hands, summoning yet another strong gust of wind. This time, it was only directed at Balthier. He was pushed off his feet, knocking the wind out of him as he fell against the crystal wall. Snow called out to him, but his voice was drowned out by the wind whipping around them. Balthier forced himself to open his eyes, despite the throbbing pain in his head. It seemed as if he was unwanted in this battle and perhaps the Eidolons only attacked the one who summoned them.
He got to his feet, picking up the disfigured pipes that Snow had been using earlier to unearth Serah's crystal. Even if the summons didn't want him to join the fight, he couldn't let Snow take them on alone. He rushed forward, throwing the pipes at the Eidolons as soon as he stood right beside the blond. It barely scratched them, and as soon as they recovered, the two women turned their gaze upon the sky pirate.
"Balthier, get out of here!" Snow yelled, grabbing his arm. "They don't want you here! Get lost!"
"Don't interrupt me! I'm thinking!" Balthier snarled, pulling his arm away from the other man's grasp. "You take them on while I distract them!"
The blond nodded, understanding what he meant. Balthier stepped back and closed his eyes, getting ready to cast a lure spell on himself. Once he was ready, he rushed past Snow toward the Eidolons, reminding himself to demand thanks from Snow after saving his foolish behind again. The women turned their gaze upon him, and once he met their eyes Balthier began to regret his plan. Letting himself get tossed around like a rag-doll was not one of his best ideas, but it was worth a shot. He just hoped that he would live long enough to let Snow tame his summons.
I was certain that marked the first time a leading man had allowed himself to become a mere distraction.
Balthier shut his eyes as another gust of wind forced him back against the crystallized cliff, wincing when his head came in contact with it. He was running out of magick again, so he couldn't keep on healing himself; not to mention how tired and dizzy he was feeling. But he needed to keep the Eidolons distracted, at least long enough for Snow to take them down. But, he wasn't certain how much longer he could take the mindless torture.
Part of him wanted to yell at Snow, to tell him to hurry it up, but he wasn't sure if he could even yell at that time. Slowly getting to his feet, Balthier breathed heavily as he looked upon the women, squinting his eyes to focus on the battle. He could see Snow somewhere in the distance, but the other man was far too busy to even notice that his comrade was still some-what alive.
At last, the Eidolons bowed their heads to Snow as Balthier rushed to his side.
"We are Shiva, and we are in your debt, l'Cie."
They retreated, fading away with the wind as Snow fell on his back, clutching his arm in pain. Balthier fell to his knees, finally giving into the weakness that had been threatening him throughout the battle. Through his daze, he could hear footsteps coming closer with each passing second, until the person spoke.
"The Twin Sisters," the woman stated as Balthier looked up at her. She was the one he had seen just as the Eidolons appeared! "I've got to hand it to you for taking 'em down, but don't gloat just yet. Might come a time you wish you'd let 'em end it, and made things easy." She held her lance against Balthier's neck, tilting her head slightly as their eyes met.
Snow sat up, recovering as his brand ceased to glow. "More of you, huh?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes weakly.
"They're l'Cie," she said to the soldiers that surrounded them with their guns aimed at the ready. "Take them."
"Back off...!"
She rolled her eyes, kneeling down in front of the blond and touching his chin. "You want to keep breathing? Shut up and come quiet." Before he could say a thing, she hit him on the neck with her elbow, and Balthier only watched as Snow fell to the ground, unconscious. The woman sighed heavily as she stood, turning her attention to the other man. "How 'bout you?"
Balthier narrowed his eyes. "I am no l'Cie," he said, like the many times before.
"Hm, that so?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Why're you with him, then?"
"I needed assistance."
She stared at him for a moment, studying him, and then she turned her back to him. "I wouldn't get mixed in with the likes of him, if I were you. It's dangerous to be around l'Cie."
A man, a soldier who didn't wear his helmet like the others, approached her. He acknowledged the crystallized girl up on the hill behind them, "Hey, Fang, what about her?"
"I'm sure blondie will still want her to be with him at all times. Take her, too," the woman - Fang, she was called - answered.
Standing up, Balthier sternly blocked their path toward Serah's crystal, remembering his promise to Snow: to watch over Serah. Fang's smirk widened, despite the glare she was receiving from the sky pirate.
"Feisty, ain't you?" she asked, "Don't worry, we won't hurt her or blondie." She folded her arms across her chest as Balthier relaxed, still keeping his eyes on her. "Since you're no l'Cie, you're free to go...That is, unless you're looking for a way out of this hell."
I told her everything I knew about the l'Cie that left Snow and I behind. This woman, Fang, was a l'Cie - just like them. There was something...different about her. Yet I still told her everything, including about who I was, and where I was from.
Balthier walked side-by-side with Fang, behind the soldiers that were dragging Snow to their airship. He eyed Fang curiously, wondering what had forced her to join a l'Cie's enemy, the Sanctum. The clothes she wore reminded him of a what a native to Dalmasca would wear, like the people who lived in the small villages in the Estersand. And, her clothes also reminded him of Vanille - she'd worn something fairly similar.
His eyes went to her l'Cie brand. It wasn't like Snow's brand at all; it was white, almost as if it were burned. Fang noticed that he was staring at her and half-grinned, tilting her head slightly.
"Like what you see?" she asked, teasing him. He turned his gaze away, looking back toward the airship, and she laughed. "I'm kiddin'. As I said before, you don't want to get mixed in with l'Cie business. Nothing but death waiting for you there."
"I'm afraid I've already gotten myself too far into this mess," Balthier answered quietly, smirking. "I suppose I'm just as guilty as they, then."
Fang shrugged her shoulders. "As long as you stick with me, nothing can hurt you. These soldiers are under my command, just a bunch of l'Cie hunters."
"You're hunting l'Cie?"
"I'm looking for someone. Someone that I lost a while ago," she explained, "In order to find her, I've decided to help out these fools all I can."
Balthier raised an eyebrow. "So you turn in any l'Cie you come across that aren't who you're looking for to PSICOM?"
"No, not those idiots. You can't trust them at all." She shook her head, stretching out her arms as they walked. "I'll be taking you and blondie to someone you can trust."
He nodded, and the two of them watched as Snow started to wake up. The first thing he saw was Serah's crystal being taken onto the ship, having been unearthed by the soldiers before leaving. Just as Balthier expected, the blond started yelling out to her and trying to break free from the soldiers holding him back. Fang sighed heavily, annoyed, and approached them.
"Stand down," she said to the soldier who had a gun pointed at Snow.
The soldier nodded, and then headed toward the ship. The others began to lead Snow away after him, and that was when the blond l'Cie caught sight of Balthier standing behind Fang. He narrowed his eyes in both confusion and anger.
"Balthier?" he asked, "But - why are you helping them?"
The sky pirate only smirked, almost like Fang, and tilted his head to the side. "Shouldn't you be off saving your girl, Ice?" he stated, and watched as Snow was led away onto the ship. Fang sighed again, turning toward him.
"C'mon, hop to it. We'll meet with Cid Raines, and you can explain your situation to him," she told him, "He'll help you out."
Balthier flinched at the sound of that name. "Cid?" he exclaimed, remembering his father - Doctor Cid. That name wasn't common in Ivalice, but was it a common name in Cocoon?
"Don't worry," she assured him, noticing his sudden discomfort. "He's on our side."
Gah. Fang~ Marry me, please!
Anywhoo, review. Please? :3 Pretty please, with sugar on top?